‘Sickening’ Conditions at Kenyan Donkey Slaughterhouse Forces Closure

Posted on 1 June 2017.

PRESS RELEASE from The Donkey Sanctuary

Shocking footage of conditions at a Kenyan donkey slaughterhouse, captured on video by staff from Donkey Sanctuary Kenya and the Kenya Society for the Protection of Animals (KSPCA), has resulted in its closure by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

The footage, described by animal welfare experts as ‘sickening’, shows dead or dying donkeys lying in filth and being eaten alive by maggots, as well as dead, skinned donkeys left alongside other donkeys waiting for slaughter.

Tanzania rejects skin trade by closing all donkey slaughterhouses

Posted on 29 May 2017.

PRESS RELEASE from The Donkey Sanctuary - Tanzania is the latest country to help halt the trade in donkey skins for traditional Chinese medicine by announcing it will close down all of its donkey slaughterhouses from July 2017.

The decision by the country’s government department, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, has been welcomed by The Donkey Sanctuary, the international charity currently campaigning for an immediate halt to the trading of donkey skins to produce the traditional Chinese product called ejiao.

Learning empathy with project Asinido

Posted on 24 April 2017.

Who would not love to have two special schoolmates with long ears and lot of fur like Alice and Primrose?

They are involved in project Asinido: children of Mongrando nursery meet our donkeys, to encourage knowledge, interaction and empathy.

Donkeys Alice and Primrose at local nursery for project Asinido

Other ways to support us

Posted on 20 April 2017.

We bet that if donkeys drank coffee, you would be happy to offer them a cup. Well: with Teaming, you can do it - or rather, you can donate 1 € per month, the equivalent of an espresso at the bar, which will turn into food for the donkeys!

Have you ever heard of Teaming? It is an online platform that collects micro-donations of 1€ per month. A very small amount, if taken alone, but that can become large if it is donated by many.

With Teaming you can donate 1€ each month: the same cost of an espresso cup

5X1000: in 2015 we were chosen by 2061 people, 65.636,43€ raised!

Posted on 19 April 2017.

Yesterday the Income revenue authority has published the list of choices related to 5X1000 (referring to 2015): 2061 Italian taxpayers decided to address a part of their taxes to our Rifugio, and this means that in the next months we will receive 65,636.43 Euros!

This will allow us to cover yearly vet expenses and to face potential extras in case of emergency, just like it happened with little Viola's rescue.

Fabrizio, Denis and Vet feeding Viola at her arrival

Ethiopia bans donkey skin trade

Posted on 19 April 2017.

Traders have been prevented from targeting the world’s largest donkey population thanks to a move by the Ethiopian government, which will also safeguard the livelihoods of millions of Ethiopia’s poorest people who depend on them.

5X1000: Viola's story

Posted on 11 April 2017.

Behind every rescue there's a long story made of time, care, hard work. And money, also: because it is fundamental to cover the huge expenses that is possible to face during emergencies.

Last September, our vet reported a very urgent case: a newborn filly rejected by mum at birth was at risk of starving. The same fate had happened to the previous foals.

Regular opening time for Easter and Easter Monday

Posted on 1 April 2017.

Why don't you spend Easter or Easter Monday with our donkeys?

We'll be open as usual from 10 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.: free entry, no booking is required.

You can find all the info you need in the "Visit us"section on our website.

Tudor and Ken are two old donkeys homed at our Rifugio

All the areas are accessible again (with brand new names)

Posted on 30 March 2017.

The prophylaxis agains lice is over and all the areas are accessible to visitors again: so come and join us! Since Saturday 1st April, closing time is 6.30 pm (opening at 10 am), so you will have one hour and a half more to spend with the donkeys.

But this is not the only news: we've renamed all the internal areas, to make their names more visitor-friendly and to celebrate some beloved donkeys who are not with us anymore at the same time.

So, here there are the new names that you will find at our Rifugio:

Donkeys playing in S1, that now is named Rufus Barn

European Parliament adopts Resolution to transform lives of horses, donkeys and mules across Europe

Posted on 15 March 2017.

The Donkey Sanctuary's partnership with Eurogroup for Animals launched an important project to ensure the EU’s 6 million horses and 1.5 million donkeys are covered by species specific legislation. In 2015 the recommendations were published in a ground breaking report titled "Removing the Blinkers". We were delighted to hear from Eurogroup for Animals that MEP Julie Girling's report on Equine welfare has this week been adopted by the European Parliament.

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